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78
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Maschil of Asaph. |
1
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Give ear, O my people, to my law: Incline your ears to the words of my
mouth. |
2
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I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, |
3
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Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. |
4
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We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to
come the praises of YAHUVEH, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he
hath done. |
5
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For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel,
Which he commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their
children; |
6
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That the generation to come might know them, even the children
that should be born; Who should arise and tell them to their
children, |
7
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That they might set their hope in YAHUVEH, And not forget the works of
YAHUVEH, But keep his commandments, |
8
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And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not
stedfast with YAHUVEH. |
9
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The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in
the day of battle. |
10
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They kept not the covenant of YAHUVEH, And refused to walk in his law; |
11
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And they forgat his doings, And his wondrous works that he had showed
them. |
12
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Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, In the land of
Egypt, in the field of Zoan. |
13
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He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through; And he made the
waters to stand as a heap. |
14
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In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, And all the night with a
light of fire. |
15
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He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out
of the depths. |
16
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He brought streams also out of the rock, And caused waters to run down
like rivers. |
17
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Yet went they on still to sin against him, To rebel against the Most
High in the desert. |
18
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And they tempted YAHUVEH in their heart By asking food according to their
desire. |
19
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Yea, they spake against YAHUVEH; They said, Can YAHUVEH prepare a table in
the wilderness? |
20
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Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams
overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people? |
21
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Therefore YAHUVEH heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against
Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel; |
22
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Because they believed not in YAHUVEH, And trusted not in his salvation. |
23
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Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven; |
24
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And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from
heaven. |
25
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Man did eat the bread of the mighty: He sent them food to the full. |
26
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He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; And by his power he
guided the south wind. |
27
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He rained flesh also upon them as the dust, And winged birds as the sand
of the seas: |
28
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And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, Round about their
habitations. |
29
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So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own
desire. |
30
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They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet
in their mouths, |
31
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When the anger of YAHUVEH went up against them, And slew of the fattest
of them, And smote down the young men of Israel. |
32
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For all this they sinned still, And believed not in his wondrous works. |
33
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Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, And their years in
terror. |
34
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When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and
sought YAHUVEH earnestly. |
35
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And they remembered that YAHUVEH was their rock, And the Most High YAHUVEH
their redeemer. |
36
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But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their
tongue. |
37
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For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in
his covenant. |
38
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But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed
them not: Yea, many a time turned he his anger away, And did not stir up
all his wrath. |
39
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And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away,
and cometh not again. |
40
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How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in
the desert! |
41
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And they turned again and tempted YAHUVEH, And provoked the Holy One of
Israel. |
42
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They remember not his hand, Nor the day when he redeemed them from the
adversary; |
43
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How he set his signs in Egypt, And his wonders in the field of Zoan, |
44
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And turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, so that they
could not drink. |
45
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He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; And frogs,
which destroyed them. |
46
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He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, And their labor unto
the locust. |
47
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He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycomore-trees with frost. |
48
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He gave over their cattle also to the hail, And their flocks to hot
thunderbolts. |
49
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He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, Wrath, and indignation,
and trouble, A band of angels of evil. |
50
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He made a path for his anger; He spared not their soul from death, But
gave their life over to the pestilence, |
51
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And smote all the first-born in Egypt, The chief of their strength in
the tents of Ham. |
52
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But he led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the
wilderness like a flock. |
53
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And he led them safely, so that they feared not; But the sea overwhelmed
their enemies. |
54
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And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, To this mountain,
which his right hand had gotten. |
55
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He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted them for an
inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. |
56
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Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High YAHUVEH, And kept not
his testimonies; |
57
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But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were
turned aside like a deceitful bow. |
58
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For they provoked him to anger with their high places, And moved him to
jealousy with their graven images. |
59
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When YAHUVEH heard this, he was wroth, And greatly abhorred
Israel; |
60
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So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent which he placed
among men; |
61
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And delivered his strength into captivity, And his glory into the
adversary's hand. |
62
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He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his
inheritance. |
63
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Fire devoured their young men; And their virgins had no marriage-song. |
64
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Their priests fell by the sword; And their widows made no lamentation. |
65
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Then the Master awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that
shouteth by reason of wine. |
66
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And he smote his adversaries backward: He put them to a perpetual
reproach. |
67
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Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, And chose not the tribe of
Ephraim, |
68
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But chose the tribe of Judah, The mount Zion which he loved. |
69
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And he built his sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which he
hath established for ever. |
70
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He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds: |
71
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From following the ewes that have their young he brought him, To be the
shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. |
72
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So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And
guided them by the skilfulness of his hands. |